Anybody drive a mini SUV?

K

Knife Outlet

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I'm car shopping for my wife. She has always driven minivans. I'm intrigued by the new crop of small SUV's built on car frames. She likes them as well. I've looked at the Ford Escape and the Nissan Xterra and like both of them better than minivans. Any user experiences?
 
The Xterra is NOT a small SUV, it's a full medium sized, body on frame SUV that WILL go anywere
 
When it was time to replace my wife's aging Neon this past year, we looked at a lot of different stuff, including the RAV4, Liberty and Honda Element. While not on her intitial list, what she ended up with is a 2005 Honda CRV. The RAV4 was just too small for her, the Element was too wierd and the Liberty was more truck like than my Grand Cherokee. She fell in love with the CRV and has been mostly happy ever since. We've only had it six months, but it's been perfectly reliable, dependable and comfortable the whole time we've had it. I have a 2002 Grand Cherokee Limited and I have to say that I think the CRV has more head room!

The only big complaint so far is that the 2WD version that we have suffers from noticable torque steer under hard acceleration. The AWD version might not have this problem. I noticed it when we first test drove the CRV and pointed it out to my wife. She didn't take issue with it at the time, but has since complained about it a couple times. It doesn't really cause any problems, just one of those niggling faults.

The interior is well designed and spacious, and it has all the modern safety features including 8 different airbags!

It's been a great buy so far.
 
My wife just bought a used Lexus RX300. I would never buy a SUV, but wife loves it and I'm sure it will suit her needs just fine. It's not going to be acceptable for an offroad vehicle due to terrible ground clearance, expensive plastic body parts, and street tires. But it's All Wheel Drive and will get her to the grocery on snowy days. The interior is nice, it has plenty of power for highway travel even at this elevation, there's room for the dogs plus two adults, and I am a sucker for the 'toys' that come standard on Lexus vehicles.

Personally for that type of vehicle, I prefer the new Subaru Tribeca, mostly because of the sweet interior. But Lexus beats Subaru hands-down for short-term and long-term reliability. In fact, Lexus has held the #1 spot for many years.

like both of them better than minivans
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She's correct. I'd rather walk than drive a minvan. Blechhh!

Happy Shopping!
-Bob
 
That Subaru Tirbeca is one of THE ugliest vehicles I have EVER seen! The RAV4 is now larger than it used to be.
 
I wouldn't say that the Tribeca looks any better or worse than any of the rest - Lexus, Honda, Toyota, etc. But the interior is incredible!

Too bad no one makes a touring coupe with an interior that nice...

-Bob
 
We have a Mitsubishi Endeavor. Great SUV, built on a car frame, and not as expensive as others. Also has received some of the highest quality ratings and safety rankings among this class of vehicle. Check it out.

- Mark
 
I agree with TheKnifeCollector on the Toyota Rav4. My little sister just got one and I'm sure it will last years longer than my Explorer. It does have an inconvenient battery mount up in the cowl, but the fit and finish and overall quality is top notch. It also gets great gas mileage.
 
Knife Outlet said:
I've looked at the Ford Escape and the Nissan Xterra and like both of them better than minivans. Any user experiences?
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I drove a Nissan Kingcab pickup, which is basically an Xterra with a bed, for ~8 years and around 140,000 miles. The only things I did to that pick up maintenance wise besides fixing a couple of screw ups on my part was change the oil and put gas in it. For such a cheap vehicle ($9,200 new) it was extremely well engineered and well built. I would buy an Xterra without hesitation if I wanted a true Hard Core SUV.

If you take one of these on a long distance drive, say from Tucson, Arizona to Beaumont, Texas non-stop, the harsh ride and hard seats will get to you (in my pickup). The pickup I had, which is the basis for the Xterra, is great for fuel economy and and intermediate distance trips. Around town "Soccer Mom" type trips are going to be a sweet spot for this vehicle for many. Loads of room for shopping trips and it sits high enough you can actually see approaching traffic when making left turns. I have seriously considered an Xterra for myself in 4x4 trim as a second vehicle. For a primary vehicle, I really need a car that makes long trips manageable these days with a smooth non-fatiguing ride. Keep in mind, I'm talking about 1,000 miles in a 24 hour period type drives (Atlanta to Dallas comes to mind as a trip I made out on Saturday and back on Sunday more then once). ;)

Be sure to look at the Subaru Forrester models. They are a good compromise between a hard core SUV like an Xterra and soft car based pretender. I see them on some pretty rough rural Arizona roads and they seem to hold up very well. They also lack the harsh ride on longer drives a truck based SUV has.

I really want a Toyota Sequoia but, that hard thump out of the rear end is a deal breaker for me. I know, I want Hummer toughness and hard core off roading with the ride of a luxury car. A man can dream right. :)
 
My wife drove an Escape from 2002 - 2005. It is was a decent vehicle and did a good job hauling our kids around and taking her to and from work. In my opinion they are essentially a stationwagon that is built to look like a SUV. If that is all you need then the Escape is a neat looking reliable vehicle. I have driven mostly Fords for the last 25 years. We finally had it with Ford service and them not fixing problems right the first time. Also some warranty related disappointments that left us on the short end of the stick. We went with a Camry to replace the Escape last year and so far we are happy with the car and service. This was my first foreign car and it was not an easy decision for us to go this route. I would buy and Escape again as a vehicle but I don't want to buy into Ford service anytime soon.
 
I had been a dyed in the wool Ford fan for many, many, many years. I recently bought a Toyota Tundra, and I LOVE it. I test drove a Ford F-150, but the Tundra blew it out of the water!! My spouse and I were Ford/Toyota owners; now it is just Toyota. After driving my Tundra, there is no way I could go back to driving a Ford. There is also the new Toyota FJ!! There are a lot of good vehicles out there. Let us know what you choose.
 
In 2003 we bought a Honda Element and have been in love with it. it looks weird, but the more you use it the more you relize how well designed and usefull they are.

The back seats can either fold up againts the sides or come out in a minute flat, leaving a huge empty box shape. The floor is rubber mat that wipes clean, so we don't mind comming back from a walk in the woods with a wet muddy dog. We can also carry two mountain bikes or kayaks easy.

We drove it from our place just outside of Washngton D.C. to family in Atlanta Ga. in a 12 hour drive with good comfort and about 25 miles per gallon.

We love our Element. We even love the fact that it looks different. Why live in a cookie cutter world?
 
Tanto Fiend: I saw that video yesterday on one the Toyota truck forums I belong to!! That was really soemthing!
 
Another note to look at the Honda Element

a little different

but good

rebuild of a Honda CRV

~18mpg city rabbit
! 30mpg interstate cruising 65-70-75mph
comfy enough over 1200+ miles

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we rented a Ford Escape previsouly, it was OK, but not special.

I also rented a Kia Santa Fe for a week, including snowy roads and weather. It was NICE.

I find Rav4 kinda twitchy, like the old suzuki sidekicks. they are real popular though.
 
2000 XTerra driver here.

Garageboy is correct on his medium sized SUV input. Nissan redesigned them in 2005 and upgraded the frame. Mine is a 2WD but the high clearance gets me most places most 4WD vehicles go in the Nevada desert. (I avoid the loose sand slips in washes though) Powerful enough and still manage 20 - 23 mpg on trips. Doesn't fade on the highway hills the way a lot of small - medium SUVs seem to (But I tend to kick the OD off on long climbs too.). No problems to mention after 47k miles. Cruise control on/off is in an awkward location on mine. Everything else is golden. There is however a Wrangler or Rubicon in my future.

Good luck in your selection.....
 
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